In place of the shattered Sacred Tree Temple, a conference room at the Respinus family academy was hosting the Republic’s ruling council of the Seven Great Nobles.
The chairwoman was the priestess Relia—behind her stood Cremon.
“U-um, we’ll begin the meeting now. The first agenda item is—”
In the midst of the meeting, a man slammed his fist onto the table.
It was Yuge Toara Drouil, Fernand’s younger brother.
He’s a year senior to Relia, the long‑blond one.
He was the next head of the Fernand house.
“Why the hell is this scum here? My brother died because of this guy!”
Yuge pointed his finger at—Serge.
Serge, the new head of the Lautre family, could only become head because Alberk took on all the sins.
All of Serge’s other relatives fled.
Because there’s nothing left in the Lautre house now.
Only a massive debt and the stain Alberk left behind remain.
Serge kept silent.
“Senior Yuge, this isn’t the time for that,” Relia warned as chair.
“Important, you say! How many people died because of this guy? How many nobles suffered? How many of the Drouil peasants perished? And look at this place—though the Seven Great Nobles were revived, there are only five of us! Who’s to blame for that?”
The Respinus house’s reconstruction.
At the same time, the heads of the Fevel and Plevan houses were absent.
The teacher who became head of the Grange house—Narcis—hid his face with one hand.
“I guess every place is short on manpower if I have to become head.”
And in the seat of the Varyel house’s head—Erik was there.
His father was gravely wounded.
The remaining relatives ran away, saying they couldn’t bear the responsibility.
Persuaded by his retainers that only Erik, who sided with the Kingdom in that war, could pull them out of this crisis, he’s here.
Erik was looking over some documents.
“There are nobles who want to take the two vacant seats, and there are merchants who’ll trade their noble titles for aid.”
Some of the nobles were shouting that the old Six Great Nobles were no longer fit to rule.
Yuge laughed.
“That’s fine. Numbers can be gathered quickly. If it’s just a matter of numbers!”
Relia was flustered.
“W‑well, we need to have a proper discussion.”
“A discussion? Are you kidding me! You’ve been running around as you please, and now you’re talking about a ‘discussion’ like you’re half‑asleep?”
Yuge, who had lost the brother he revered, seemed unable to forgive Serge and the others.
He grabbed Serge by the lapels and started punching him.
“You! You made that count get angry by doing unnecessary things! Can’t you pick a proper opponent? It would’ve been better if you’d just died!”
“Ugh!”
Serge only took the blows, offering no resistance.
Relia looked around for help, but Narcis didn’t intervene either.
“—Sorry. I’ve lost a lot of family too. Even my newly‑wed wife is gone. —I’m just out of options.”
Yuge kept beating Serge until he was exhausted; when it finally stopped, only Yuge’s heavy breathing could be heard.
After a moment of silence, Erik took charge.
“Yuge, are you done? We’re wasting time—let’s get this meeting started.”
“Tch! You’re lucky, huh? You’re close with Count Bartfort, so you’re on a different level than us.”
Erik closed his eyes.
“—Chair, please begin.”
The current state of the Republic—unable even to gather enough proxy heads—was laid bare in this meeting.
Erik recalled his parting with Marie.
◇
It was the day Erik was welcomed by his retainers.
At the mansion’s entrance, Erik clung to Marie.
“Sister! W‑what did I do wrong!?”
Marie told Erik to go back home.
To Erik, that felt like being abandoned.
“You’re an idiot. I can’t give you a perfect score, but I’ll give you seventy. You worked hard enough, and I haven’t given up on you.”
“Then! Then why are you telling me to ‘go back’? I’ll go to the Kingdom too!”
Marie shrugged.
“Look at the faces of the retainers who came to fetch you. They’re about to cry.”
When he turned around, the retainers were on the verge of tears at Erik’s pitiful state.
“I don’t know! You dumped me, and now you’re showing up with some fake apology—what a joke.”
Marie swung a fist at Erik.
“You fool!”
“Ah, sister!”
With tears in his eyes, Erik shouted back.
“There’s a home you can return to. A family waiting for you. What are you gonna do, complain? I can’t even go back to my own house.”
Erik lowered his head, and Marie started yelling at the retainers who had come to fetch him.
“Why are you all looking so sad at Erik? Don’t you realize you’re the pathetic ones? You came here to get help from Erik, and now you’re being cheeky. You’ll all get him to beat up my brother!”
The retainers and knights straightened up.
“W‑we’re sorry!”
“Sure, you thought if you welcomed Erik—my brother—you’d get preferential treatment, but that’s impossible. Still, if you mistreat Erik, my brother will get angry! —Probably.”
Perhaps the name Leon was too powerful; the retainers turned pale.
“No, that’s not it. As head of the Varyel house, we want Erik to return. That’s also the head’s wish.”
“The motive’s obvious. I’m sensitive to that sort of thing.”
Marie, who always had ulterior motives, saw right through him.
She whispered to Erik.
“If it really can’t work, just say so. I’ll ask brother for you.”
“Sister, but I want to stay with you.”
“When you become a proper man, I’ll see you as much as you want. You think you can just abandon everyone here and live a lazy life in the Kingdom?”
Erik shook his head, and Marie patted his shoulder.
“That’s good! You’ve improved, so I’ll acknowledge you. You’re better than those five. —Do your best.”
Tears streaming, Erik said goodbye to Marie.
◇
—The meeting room.
Erik kept thinking of Marie.
(“Sister, watch over me. I’ll become a man you can be proud of.”)
Unaware of Erik’s inner monologue, Relia moved on to the agenda.
“So, the next topic is the amount and price of magic stones. If we only consider domestic consumption, the Republic’s stock of magic stones won’t last a year. Experts say the energy from the Sacred Tree is far too little to cover the whole country—”
A new sapling can’t replace the Sacred Tree.
Even after ten or twenty years, nothing will really change.
Narcis, looking at the data, said,
“If we don’t sell, it’ll last about six months, but I’m worried about how the neighboring countries will react.”
Yuge turned his face away.
“Where are we supposed to buy magic stones after those six months?”
Relia was at a loss.
“W‑well, I guess we have to buy them from abroad.”
“Exactly. Domestic mining can’t meet demand, so we have to buy. —And where do we get the money?”
There are reparations and reconstruction costs on top of that.
The Republic is in a terrible spot.
“Um, well—”
“Hey, Serge. What are you going to do? Got anything to say?”
From the flustered Relia, Yuge tossed the question to Serge.
“I think we have to sell the two empty seats.”
Serge’s answer made Yuge jump for joy.
“Right! Sell them to merchants, get the cash. —And then we’ll be shoulder‑to‑shoulder with those who have no history or achievements. Selling noble seats for money—what do you think?”
Serge, who was Yuge’s target, couldn’t say a word.
Narcis tried to help.
“If only we could reserve a seat for Count Bartfort. He’d just flat‑out refuse, though.”
Relia lowered her head.
“How about welcoming him as an honorary noble?”
Yuge looked at Relia.
“There’s a better plan. The ones who aren’t married yet are Serge, Erik— and you, priestess. Narcis just lost his wife, but you’re all free. If we marry the merchants’ sons or daughters, we can pull money from five merchants plus the extra seats, right? If you say you’ll become the priestess’s husband, the merchants will throw money at us. The rich old guys will love it!”
Serge stood up.
“Th‑that’s—”
He remembered his powerless position, bowed his head, and clenched his teeth.
“—Just give it to me. I’ll accept.”
Yuge was unmoved.
“Is one person enough? Listen, that’s all we have to sell! Thanks to those people!”
Serge, panicking, could say nothing, when Erik stepped in.
“—We don’t have to fix the seats at seven. We can set up an extra council and add seats. There are other ways. Also, if we conserve magic stone consumption, it’ll last a few years. We should stop wasting energy like before.”
Erik, who had learned frugal living under Marie, was the most sensible voice there.
Relia nodded happily.
“Yes, exactly! Let’s discuss that too.”
Relia, agreeing with Erik’s proposal, felt relieved that a solution had emerged.
But Erik wasn’t optimistic.
(“Even if we do everything we can, it still isn’t enough. The real problem is what the neighboring countries will do.”)
Will they attack, or just watch? Their moves are still unknown.
◇
The day of departure for the Kingdom.
When we arrived at the port, a ship from the Kingdom was waiting.
One of them was the family’s airship.
Other ducal airships were visible too.
Ricolnu was docking as well.
“Eh? Dad’s here? You said you hated foreign lands. And what about that blue‑eyed one?”
Dad’s one eye still bore the bruised mark from the beating.
I thought maybe they’d had a marital spat, but then—
“—Leon, if you have an excuse, I’ll hear it. Explain why you lied about having an illegitimate child.”
Hearing that, I remembered.
The reason Angelica and Libya doubted I had a sister was because Marie called me “brother.”
In the end, Erik started calling Marie “sister,” so they mistakenly thought I was being revered as a brother.
—Thanks, Erik.
I’ll lower the interest on the debt a bit.
“Oh, that was a misunderstanding. Sorry, sorry.”
When I apologized, Dad’s fist came down hard—he was seriously angry, and it hurt like hell.
“Because of you the house is a warzone! When you get back, you better explain everything to Mom! Got it? Absolutely!”
Holding the spots where both fists hit,
“S‑sorry—”
I endured the pain and answered, and Dad’s face turned solemn.
“And then—are you okay?”
“What?”
“This kind of stuff comes later. You act all carefree, but you’re secretly worrying behind my back, so I’m worried.”
—Many people later kill others and then worry about it.
I’ve heard that even trained soldiers find it tough.
I’ve had counseling from Luxion and Claire, but—does it even work? I’m waking up less at night.
“I’m not fine, but I’ll manage.”
“Alright—don’t go to war for a while. Enjoy academy life. You can only play around now.”
During this precious student time, I’m working hard enough to deserve more praise.
“I’m not at fault, yet trouble keeps piling on.”
“Look at my face, ruined by the family drama you caused, and say that again.”
“I’m not at fault, yet trouble keeps piling on.”
Saying it again after seeing Dad’s face earned me another punch.
Then, from the docked Ricolnu, Angelica and Libya stepped off.
They rushed down the gangway and lunged at me.
“Leon!”
“Leon‑san!”
“You two look great.”
As I laughed, Dad muttered, “She’s the one who cheated, so why do I have to be suspected of cheating?”
Hey, cut it out!
—I didn’t cheat at all.
◇
Near the noisy Leon crew.
Marie was sitting on top of a travel bag, swinging her legs.
“It was a hard study‑abroad life. Actually, the latter half felt like I was just working.”
Before I knew it, half a year in the Alzel Republic was more about partying than studying.
This month, I was swamped caring for the busy Leon crew.
Kara looked tired too.
“But now we’re back in the middle of a half‑finished term, aren’t we, Marie‑sama?”
“Yeah. I’m worried about failing a year. Oh, if I fail, I can just stay at the academy another year!”
Lost in daydreams, Marie was snapped back to reality by Kyle.
“No, when you go back you’ll be under house arrest, right? After all, studying abroad was basically exile.”
“—Ah”
Marie remembered that and buried her head in her hands, when Erik rushed over.
“Sister!!!”
Marie went over to Erik with a sigh.
Erik was crying openly, and Marie comforted him.
“I did my best today too!”
“There, there, keep it up.”
Kara exhaled.
“Erik‑kun, you thought you’d be on our side but you went back to your family.”
Kyle put his hand on his hip, looking disappointed, yet—
“Since you can go home, that’s fine. I don’t even have a family.”
I can’t return to the elf village.
Just then—
“Ah, Kyle! Finally I get to see you!!!”
An elf woman leapt at Kyle.
It was Yumeria, the maid hired by Leon’s family.
“M‑mom!”
The petite, fluffy‑looking elf was thrilled to see Kyle.
“Kyle, how have you been?”
“Why are you here! Where’s your work!?”
Yumeria placed a hand on her hip, puffing out her chest.
Her large bust swayed.
“Ha! This time the lord sent me on an airship mission! I also have a message for the count!”
She proudly announced her job.
Kyle blushed, “I‑I see.”
“The count’s over there.”
Pointing at Leon, who was being hugged by Libya and Angelica, Yumeria said shyly,
“I don’t want to get in the way.”
“That’s true.”
She seemed to be holding back for Leon’s sake.
Nearby, another young man was also holding back.
—It was Jan.